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Thinking of closing my tanks down

Fisher2007

Member
Joined
19 Feb 2018
Messages
430
Location
Warrington
Hi all

Life has taken a few twists and turns in the last month or two and my tanks are becoming a bit of a ball and chain so I'm thinking about shutting them down. Right now I'm contemplating getting rid of the plants and livestock and then draining them and leaving them empty. I have two tanks, a 50cm cube and a 1.4m. I'm just wondering what peoples suggestions would be for closing them down and selling the contents?

Ideally I'm thinking in each case to basically try and sell the contents as a job lot (plants, shrimp, fish and snails) but is that likely to happen, especially during covid

The 50cm cube has about a dozen long fin white cloud minnows, maybe 20 black and white caridina and 20 red and white rilis, 10 amano shrimp plus half a dozen snails

The 1.4m approx 40+ lambchop rasbora, a dozen or so mixed rainbows (threadfin and pascia) along with 30-40 amano shrimp, a ton of cherries (100 maybe) and a dozen mixed snails

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I haven't got any advice on shutting them down to be honest as it would be quite difficult right now. Not so much for the plants but for the livestock. (unless posting)
But they are cracking looking scapes and it would be a shame to see them go.
Is there anyway you could 'slow' the scapes down to minimise maintenance?

Just an idea,
 
That’s a shame,

you may be lucky and someone on here will talk all the elements.

otherwise, fish to local store, hopefully for a little credit. Plants and shrimp advertise on here.
 
maybe take some cuttings of each plant and set up an emersed tank for easier keeping, in case you get the bug again
 
I haven't got any advice on shutting them down to be honest as it would be quite difficult right now. Not so much for the plants but for the livestock. (unless posting)
But they are cracking looking scapes and it would be a shame to see them go.
Is there anyway you could 'slow' the scapes down to minimise maintenance?

Just an idea,

Thanks for the reply. How would I go about slowing the tanks down?

Basically I want to be in a position whereby I can leave them for 2 or 3 weeks at a time with no real maintenance, other than someone feeding the fish every day or two. I could always get auto dosers for the ferts if needed

Cheers
 
If you read through the comments in this FO video, he mentions his fertilization and lighting, trimming etc and how his tanks are set to run so that he trims every 45days or so
Also use of the Twinstar(?) sterilizer
- in this video, tank has not had any maintenance for a month or so

Also watch Filipe Oliveira’s previous videos on his home tank maintenance and fertilization routine



Hope you find a way forward that doesn’t include shutting down your tanks :)
 
Love the scapes and the setup.
If you are sure you want to sell then I am sure people on the forum would buy your shrimp and plants. I guess someone would buy the fish. But, given the effort put into tanks it would be a shame to break them down.
 
They look great so would be a shame to shut down. Can you not turn down the light and lower nitrate to slow down the growth?

As @alto has shown in his link Filipe Oliviera uses this technique and it slows the growth down so trimming is much more manageable. E.I method allows for rapid robust growth however there are many other methods out there. Check out https://www.advancedplantedtank.com/ for information about leaner dosing and the pros and cons.

Cheers

Conor
 
Thanks for the reply. How would I go about slowing the tanks down?

Basically I want to be in a position whereby I can leave them for 2 or 3 weeks at a time with no real maintenance, other than someone feeding the fish every day or two. I could always get auto dosers for the ferts if needed

Cheers


lights turned down to 50% 4 hour lighting period. small dose of ferts twice a week will work.
 
Thanks for the reply. How would I go about slowing the tanks down?
Hey @Fisher2007 how much ambient light do you have in the room with the tanks? I leave my tank just like that for 3-5 weeks when on holidays with no ferts and no problems at all. Some plants become more leggy but they barely grow and don't need anything at all.

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It would be a shame to see such lovely tanks shut down, but I understand the burden on ongoing maintenance with a busy life.

If I were you, I'd shut down the small tank first, and move the livestock into the main tank, and sell off the plants on here. One tank is always going to be easier to maintain than two.

Then in the main tank, follow the advice of others above, and cut down on lighting intensity and photo period to reduce growth. You could also look to swap out some of the faster growing stems for slower growing plants.

There are also several things you can do to ease maintenance, you could reduce stocking levels as and when you can to reduce maintenance. You can put in an auto-doser for ferts as you mention. If you are near to any water supply and waste pipework (e.g. a sink on the opposite side of the wall etc), you can implement automated water changes fairly easily (though may require drilling an overflow outlet in your tank). I set up an automated water change system on my tank, and I would never go back to manual water changes.

Do those things, and you could conceivably limit your maintenance to a couple of hours once a month.
 
You have nothing to lose by slowing things down, you will still have the option of shutting down later if it becomes absolutely necessary.

You could reduce the temperature a bit as well as the lights and ferts (and reduce the CO2 if you are injecting). It would reduce the running costs a bit as well, if that's a factor in your present circumstances.

If any of your plants don't adapt you could replace them with something that can.

One of the great things about aquarium keeping before everything went hi-tech was that it didn't need loads of maintenance. :)
 
Superb tanks, well done.

It's a shame that you may have to shut them down but sometimes life does get in they way of a time demanding hobby.

If you have a good relationship with your local LFS maybe they will take your livestock?.

I would try and store the hardscape for the future, just in case. Clean and wrap all the equipment so it's ready to use when things get sorted.

Maybe there are local Ukaps members who would love to have the plants?.

There's always Ebay, Gumtree or maybe an add in the local shop.

Best of luck.
 
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